Customer Reviews

Circumstantial Evidence

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Since I am one of the characters involved I can truly say that Pete Earley captures the events more precise than those of us on the inside looking out. The chilling things he describes are true, and the scary part is they are still happening, everyday. It is a must read for anyone truly interested in how the justice system Really works.

Circumstantial Evidence is the title Mr. Earley gives to this massive and detailed reconstruction of the murder of a Southern Belle, its shoddy investigation by overly ambitious and politically motivated sheriffs, police officers and state investigators, its prosecution by several racially biased county attorneys, its supposed black perpetrator shanghied onto death row for eight years by this good-old-boy justice, his dedicated defender, Bryan Stevenson, who persists with the case to its eventual overturn through years of repudiated requests for habeas-corpus relief, and all the related characters, noble and outrageous, who inhabit Monroe County and those nearby in rural Alabama. Circumstantial Evidence is a gripping title, perhaps, but not an accurate one. There was really no evidence against the man who was arrested by desperate lawmen after several months of vain effort to find a suspect. As is often the case throughout our country evidence against a "suspect" is artfully created through testimony by known villains whose vengeful and self-serving motives form a sub-plot in this true tale that Earley has skillfully rearranged to read like a fictional case history. Unfortunately, it is not fiction. The case was so egregious that after the denial of one appeal, Stevenson went public and attracted Sixty Minutes to do a feature on the case. This unfavorable publicity seems to be the only prod that forced Alabama officials to take a second look. Even so, they dared hold the falsely accused and condemned man for several weeks after the reversal of his conviction. What the reader will learn here is that the rights supposedly secured for us by our Constitution are chimerical for everyone in many places and at times when politics, economics, and bias supersede the patient search for truth. If the reader was surprised or made indignant by the outcome of the Simpson case, he will find much more here to fuel outrage; the case will, perhaps, lend an insight into why the OJ jury voted as it did. Until such county injustice is rooted out--and doing away with the death penalty would remove much unfair prosecutorial grandstanding from our justice system--we cannot say that the Constitution is realized, nor can we say that the Civil War is over.

This book has SO many twists and turns you won't be able to put it down. It's a true life story that follows a murder in a small Southern town in the 1980s. The town is racist, and a black man gets sentenced to death on circumstantial evidence for the crime. The book doesn't reveal who may have really done the murder until the last few pages! Meanwhile, a million different scenarios are offered by low lifes cutting deals with the police and the D.A. to get out of prison early. All of the scenarios seem plausible, so you spend half the book wondering if this person or that person may have done the murder. Very exciting book. Also reveals the dark side of our justice system.

The murder occurs in the town that provided the setting for the book "Too Kill a Mockingbird."

Earley is an extremely talented writer whose style makes it impossible to put this book aside. It is written in chronological order, which makes it comparable to fiction novels.

The story is a tale of police blunders, hidden evidence by the police, lying witnesses and jilted girlfriends. It will make you question the guilt of current death row inmates because district attorney's and cops will commit felonies to win a conviction.

I read the book because Ann Rule spoke very highly of his writing ability and she was 100% correct. He is one of the best non-fiction, though he could probably cross over to fiction, writers in the world.

The murder remains unsolved, though police think they know who killed her, because of a lack of evidence. Bryan Stevenson has received national honors for his work with death row inmates, McMillan has never regained the small tree business that was lost after his conviction. He does day labor in the same town.

None of the police officers were charged since investigation "mistakes" were considered to be "honest mistakes."

true life story of a black man unjustly accused and sentenced to die for the murder of a young white woman in a small town in Alabama. I have been through Bay Minette several times and could relate to the environment where the trial occurred. If I didn't know better I would think this case occurred 100 years ago; alas, it did not; I found myself struggling to continue reading the book because of the fact it was so very sad and horrifying. The incompetence, the lies, the coverup, so they could get this poor innocent black man convicted of murder. thank God for men like Mr. Stevenson- I guess my only surprise was that they never found the true killer- one is left to guess who did it, I guess. Does anyone have any update as to if they ever found the killer of these women?

When I first heard about this book, I initially thought that it was just another slanted story about an author who was trying to twist facts to fit his belief. Later on, when I started digging into the book, I became overwhelmed with the level of injustices that took place to Walter "Johnny D." McMillan. What is really sad is that, what happened to Johnny D. was not an isolated case of justice gone bad, but was rather a small part of a sickness that has permeated this society for over two hundred years - a black man falsely accused of raping and murdering an innocent young white girl in the South. Everything Peter Earley talked about in his book was verified by other facts and deserves the highest recognition possible. I highly recommend this book to anybody who wants to see a modern day "To Kill A Mockingbird" story.

Many years ago, a friend who is a lawyer, gave me this book to read, and I thought it was one of the best non-fiction or fiction books I had ever read. I am rereading it today and I find I still feel that way.

It is captivating, engrossing and so well written you feel as though you are looking over the shoulder of every character. It puts you right into the heart of the murder investigation and you ache to solve it.

I found this a well-written account of the murder and subsequenst events in Monroeville, Ala., and disturbing to realize how as late as the late 1980s there were racist overtones in the legal system in Alabama. The accused and wronged man charged with the murder brought suit against the law people who wronged him. That dispute reached the US Supreme Court. Readers of this book might be interested in reading the opinions in McMillian v. Monroe County, Ala., 520 U.S. 781, 117 S.Ct. 1734 (1997). I find it most interesting to check the appellate decisions related to true crime books. If you Shepardize the cite I give you will also find the Alabama Court of Appeals decision which is discussed in this 1994 book.

A Great Novel. Circumstantial Evidence reads as if it is fiction, but sadly it's real life. This book has made me re-think my thoughts of the death penalty. A MUST READ.

I thought I knew it all when it came to justice regarding capital punishment. Boy, was I wrong! This book opened my eyes, and made me reevaluate my position on capital punishment in modern America.

The tale of murder,opportunity,greed,lies, and injustice in rural Alabama presented in this book with gripping clarity made me sad,entertained,hopeless, and confused. I am still hurt so to say that even after the battle we have fought to put ourselves above lowly animals,we still act like them anyways.

This book has everything in it. Innocence, racism, drugs, power,sex, lies---and yeah murder. It reads more like fiction. Winning the 1996 Edgar Award for best true crime was not enough. This book deserved more for bringing to light the frailties of our justice system. Excuse me, I have to cry some more!